Hackers Access and Hold the World's Biggest Company's Data Hostage

Citycomp, a German-based IT firm that holds contracts with some of the world’s largest companies has been hit with a large-scale data breach. Hackers then held the company’s data hostage, asking for a $5000 ransom to be paid.

Germany-based Citycomp has since issued a statement on the cyber attack where they say the company “successfully fended off a hacker attack,” but will “not yield to blackmail.” As they explain, “the repercussion is the publication of the stolen customer data.”

According to Forbes, “The provider of servers and storage was successfully breached and more than 300,000 files across 51,000 folders stolen by a hacker, or hackers, going by the name of Boris Bullet-Dodger.”

All up, 516BG of financial and private data was accessed.

Vice’s Motherboard outlet is reporting they have had communication with the hacker, who was inside Citycomp’s network for more than a month before executing the attack. The hacker described the company’s security protocols as an “awful security system.”

A Motherboard journalist asked Boris whether this was an attempt to extort Citycomp’s clients, to which they replied, “no, these companies are not guilty of awful work of citycomp.”

Michael Bartsch, executive director of Deutor Cyber Security Solutions, a firm Citycomp has authorised to make public comments on the attack confirmed the attack, and aid “the attack is ongoing.”

“We have to be careful as the whole case is under police investigation and the attacker is trying all tricks,” he said.

“We have informed and warned all concerned clients… There was full transparency about the attack and theft as well as public release of the data with our clients from the very beginning. The support is unanimous,” Bartsch added.

A spokesperson from German automotive company Porsche responded to Motherboard outlet saying “We have already been aware of this topic. Porsche is at the moment working on it together with Citycomp in order to clarify the details as digital security is very important to us.”

Competitor Volkswagen said “Volkswagen is currently investigating an online data breach that occurred at Citycomp, one of its suppliers. Volkswagen takes the protection of personal and corporate data very seriously. Citycomp is cooperating with our investigations to establish the scale of the data breach.”

The company’s statement went on to conclude that “as a trustworthy and professional service provider, Citycomp does not comply with blackmail… Citycomp has implemented further technical and organizational measures to increase its security in order that such an attack will not occur again in the future.”